1 00:00:03,360 --> 00:00:06,399 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:10,119 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 2: Hi, my name is Robert Lamb And this is the 3 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:15,040 Speaker 2: Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow 4 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 2: Your Mind, focusing in non mythical creatures, ideas, and monsters 5 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:25,920 Speaker 2: in time. Yesterday's core episode of Stuff to Blow Your 6 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:29,159 Speaker 2: Mind concerned the fabled rat King, in which it is 7 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:32,640 Speaker 2: said the tales of rats become intertwined and knotted, a 8 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:36,920 Speaker 2: dire omen of impending doom. But what about elsewhere in 9 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:41,199 Speaker 2: the natural and unnatural worlds? To begin with, folklore is 10 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:45,320 Speaker 2: rife with magical knots, is Cyrus l Day pointed out 11 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 2: in Knots and Not Lore back in nineteen fifty. Just 12 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:52,360 Speaker 2: as the use of knots extends back through prehistoric human times, 13 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:55,840 Speaker 2: so too does the idea that we might work magic 14 00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 2: with the various intricate knots that we tie. They observe 15 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:04,680 Speaker 2: that ancient peoples attempted to control the weather, biology, reproduction, death, 16 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:09,520 Speaker 2: and various supernatural entities via the working of knots. Not 17 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 2: Magic was sometimes maleficent and other times beneficial. It could 18 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:17,280 Speaker 2: be an intentional magical effect or something invoked by accident. 19 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:19,920 Speaker 2: It might be said to work at close range, across 20 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:24,840 Speaker 2: vast distances, and across various stretches of time. After all, 21 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:27,959 Speaker 2: what is the knot but the joining and the binding 22 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 2: of things, the creation of something, the creation of a 23 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 2: new complexity in the process, And of course the topic 24 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:37,959 Speaker 2: is closely aligned with all manner of fabric arts and 25 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:42,040 Speaker 2: even hair breeds. As not so easily become the subject 26 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 2: of magical thinking, they inevitably touched the world of monsters. 27 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 2: Among the many anti vampire traditions, we find the notion 28 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 2: that one may leave a complex array of knots out 29 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:55,680 Speaker 2: for the creature, which will then occupy its time trying 30 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 2: to unravel them and figure them out till the sun 31 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 2: rises once again. They are also other related tactics that 32 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:03,600 Speaker 2: don't involve knots at all, such as leaving out poppy 33 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 2: seeds that the vampire will feel compelled to count. Unnatural 34 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 2: complexity overpowers the undead senses, it would seem, But as 35 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:15,120 Speaker 2: with the fabled rat King, there are also some myths 36 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:18,960 Speaker 2: and legends of knotted creatures. The account of Heracles and 37 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:22,760 Speaker 2: Coccus is notable. While in some depictions Coccus is merely 38 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:25,040 Speaker 2: presented as a fire breathing giant, or even just a 39 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:28,760 Speaker 2: large muscular man that Heracles wrestles. Other times, he is 40 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:31,920 Speaker 2: described as a sort of giant spider, except with three 41 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 2: fire breathing human heads atop a long neck. In order 42 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:39,799 Speaker 2: to slay the monster, Heracles ties its neck in a knot. 43 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:45,840 Speaker 2: Dragon iconography often involves knots, as does serpentine iconography, and 44 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 2: the knotting of tail or neck may be presented as 45 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 2: a means of defeating the creature or as a self 46 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:56,120 Speaker 2: coiling behavior. In the natural world, climbing snakes have been 47 00:02:56,160 --> 00:03:00,239 Speaker 2: observed to use lasso locomotion to scale trees and poles 48 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:03,360 Speaker 2: in search of prey, a configuration that indeed appears to 49 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:07,760 Speaker 2: be a simple knot. Elsewhere, hagfish, when agitated, will twist 50 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:12,800 Speaker 2: themselves into a traveling overhand knot to squeeze off excess slide. 51 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:16,640 Speaker 2: Tune in for additional episodes of The Monster Fact each week. 52 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:19,760 Speaker 2: As always, you can email us at contact at stuff 53 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:29,160 Speaker 2: to Blow your Mind dot com. 54 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:31,800 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is a production of iHeartRadio. 55 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:35,120 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 56 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.